Clean-up crews on way to oil spill on island
April 14, 2010
The damage caused by the ship is shown in this photo taken on April 3 and released by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Crews are on their way to a Great Barrier Reef island to clean up oil that's fouling a world famous turtle hatchery and bird sanctuary.
Maritime Safety Queensland says oil believed to have come from the refloated coal carrier Shen Neng 1 has fouled up to a kilometre of the coral key.
The island is just 10 nautical miles (18 kilometres) from where the ship ran aground on Douglas Shoal on April 3, causing up to four tonnes of heavy fuel oil to leak.
MSQ general manager Patrick Quirk says clean-up crews and environmental experts will arrive on the island this morning.
"We have helicopter taking off from the Gladstone airport at seven o'clock. We have staff on those helicopters who are specialists in beach clean up," he told the ABC.
"It is important we get to the oil as soon as we can."
Mr Quirk said he was hopeful the clean-up would be able to remove much of the oil.
"It hasn't come ashore in large globules or carpets.
"Our advice from the rangers on the island is that it's at the top of the tide line in patches, and that gives us some comfort.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/cleanup-crews-on-way-to-oil-spill-on-island-20100414-scc9.html
Scientists study damage:
Quote:
Marine scientists dive into study
Scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science are conducting a thorough investigation of damage done to the Great Barrier Reef by the recently grounded coal carrier, Shen Neng 1
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The AIMS research vessel, the 24-metre Cape Ferguson, has carried a team of marine scientists to the Douglas Shoal, where the ship ran aground.
The damaged coal carrier was moved to safe anchorage last week, making the grounding site on the Great Barrier Reef accessible for the AIMS team, which will assess the scale and severity of the physical damage as well as the level of contamination from anti-foulant paint.
AIMS cruise leader, Dr Andrew Negri said a multi-beam sonar was being used to map the sea floor to quantify physical damage to the structure of the reef.
“This instrument can resolve the seabed to less than 10 centimetres, which means it will accurately record the damage caused by the ship’s hull,” Dr Negri said.
He said the scientists were diving with video cameras to record footage of the impact on reef organisms such as corals, sponges and algae.
Specialised cameras that can be towed by the ship were being used for areas too deep for divers.
Dr Negri said paint used on the hulls of most large vessels to reduce the growth of algae and barnacles usually contained toxic chemicals, including heavy metals and herbicides, which often scraped onto the reef if a ship was grounded.
The team was taking samples of the sediments for analysis to provide the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority with a rapid baseline contamination assessment of the site.
Dr Negri said previous ship groundings had contaminated up to one hectare of the reef. Movement of the Shen Neng 1 since it was first grounded on Easter Saturday, means the area of physical damage and contamination may be much larger.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, James Cook University and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service are providing support to the AIMS team during the investigation.
